


A Life Well-Lived But A Heart Turned Cold

by troublestarter12



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst? Definite Angst, Arthur the Once and Future King, BUT THEN HE LIVES, Canon Era, Canonical Character Death, Established Relationship, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Family, Future Era, It was a mistake to make me God, M/M, Mutual Pining, doubts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-03-31 00:24:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19038589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troublestarter12/pseuds/troublestarter12
Summary: Arthur Pendragon rises from the grave to take his place as "The Once and Future King". However, his Camelot is gone alongside all those he loved dearly. How will Arthur cope in a world he doesn't understand when all that plagues his mind is the past.





	A Life Well-Lived But A Heart Turned Cold

"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world."- C.S. Lewis

 

The beaming sun glinted across smooth metal, warming the cool artifact from years of being unused. The placid lake glittered as small water-crests curled softly onto the bank, narrowly missing a chance to further dampen the long red cloth. On the green grass of the bank, illuminated by a cloud-free sky, pale blue eyes startle open. 

The eyes blink excessively, desperately trying to clear his blurry vision affliction, as the man groans shallowly. His right hand comes to rest on his right breast before he shoots upright. He ignores the rush of blood to his brain, making him feeling more woozy than he already was, and scans his surrounding with bewildered eyes. 

Whatever the man sought to find was not here. No, not anymore. With shaking hands he pushes himself to his feet, tilting to and fro as he regains his center of gravity. His damp hair clung to his forehead as small droplets of water trailed down his face. He brings his right hand to his face to wipe them away before dropping it at the last moment. As his hand falls back to his side, the man squeezes his eyes shut and chokes back tears threatening to spill. He forces his mouth into a firm line as his entire body shakes with raw emotion. 

For a fleeting moment Arthur Pendragon believed everything was all right. That perhaps Merlin found a way to bring him back with his apparent "all powerful sorcerer" magic. Yes, Arthur had falsely hoped that he was back with his friends and Camelot. 

How rude an awakening this must have been for the man who envisioned himself in a time that no longer exists. The crushing weight of reality, a world in which he is truly and deeply alone, brings him crashing full force to his knees. His head falls between his arms on the grass as his breathing becomes unrhythmic. The breaths accelerate in speed and falter as Arthur's chest tightens mercilessly. He feels lost and afraid of this horrid place that holds no resemblance to home. He feels as helpless as he did dying, knowing he was leaving everyone he loved in anguish. 

Arthur's mental state further deteriorates as he comes to the conclusion his afterlife is one of torture. The Gods had deemed him a person of evil actions on Earth and sent him here, wherever he was, as a punishment. Hot tears pour as he thinks of all the people he couldn't save: those from his father's doing, those innocent sorcerers such as Merlin, and those he himself could not reach in time. Gwen's father comes to mind as he realizes they all could have been preventable. It was his fault, and his alone, that so many innocents died because he stood idle or turned a blind eye. 

"Yes," he decides, "I deserve this."

 

As a boy of fifteen walks his normal route from school, he gets momentarily blinded by a reflection of light coming from his left. The dark haired boy shields his eyes with the palm of his left hand before peering into the overgrown brush. A waist-high, concrete wall (with clear instructions not to jump it) separates him from finding the cause of the phenomenon. 

The boy peeks around him in search of witnesses before hopping over the wall with ease. His mother always did say his curiosity would one day get him in trouble, he just hoped it wasn't today. 

He treks towards the source of the reflection, an old sword like his father keeps above the mantle, when he hears a person gasp for air. His heart seizes as he slowly turns to find a man, draped in a long red cape, practically wailing into the bank. 

 

Piers takes cautious steps towards the grief-stricken man. At least, he hopes he is grief-stricken and not a psycho murderer or something along those lines. Nonetheless, he takes short strides towards the man until he was an arm's length away. Piers sucks in a breathe, puffs up his chest with false confidence, and lays a hand on the stranger's shoulder.

Whatever Piers believed would happen was thrown out the window as the man grabs his wrist and twist him over his shoulder, causing Piers' back to impact the ground. The man slowly looks up at him and glowers. 

"Leave me be, for has this not been torture enough," the man speaks with a thick accent Piers can't place. 

Piers shakes his head rapidly, hoping to avoid another onslaught. 

Piers' mouth is too dry all of a sudden as he sees the crest on the man's ... costume? He wishes it's just an accident but it seems this man's whole get up revolves around his family crest. 

"Where... where did you get these clothes?" Piers stumbles, searching for words that wouldn't get him attacked.

The man frowns deeply, "From my bedroom of course." 

"Yeah, yeah of course," Piers insists, "But what did you do to get that crest on them?"

The man's eyes snap up to his own, "All my clothes have some emblem of my family crest."

Piers shakes his head, "No, that's my family crest. It's the Pendragon Crest, so it can't be yours."

The man's eyes widen as he speaks, "I am Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot. How could this crest be yours?"

Piers' mind is racing a mile per minute as he recalls the myths and legends he had to memorize. King Arthur had died but it was foretold he would rise again one day. 

"The once and future king," Piers mutters as he rubs his brow. 

The man, Arthur, gazes at the young boy. How could he be a Pendragon? It wasn't possible, was it? 

 

The boy reminded him of someone but the name slips his mind as he digs himself into endless "What If" possibilities of how this could be true. 

When the boy spoke he had spoken with honesty, that much Arthur knew. But was he a nightmare created by the Gods to torture Arthur? He had always wanted a family, someone to pass on lessons and love to. It seems truly cruel if this is simply a trick by the Gods to open wounds that had never had the chance to heal. 

The young boy exhales unsteadily as he raises his head from his hand. Periwinkle blue meets Livid for the briefest moment before the boy casts his eyes downward again. The boy nods as he chews his bottom lip on his left side. 

The boy lifts his head and shoves out his hand, "I'm Piers Cassio, the possibly very great descendant of yours from my paternal grandmother's side." 

Arthur takes the boy's, Piers', hand in his and shakes gently. All at once the unnerve he felt had dissipated into thin air. 

Piers stands, brushing off any dirt that could have made its way onto his jeans, then offers his hand to Arthur. 

At Arthur's blank stare Piers states, "I'm not going to just leave you here. I'll take you home, hopefully explain everything before my mom kills me, and fix this mess. Okay?"

Arthur nods with finality before taking Piers hand. He briefly scopes around for his sword but decides he can come back later to retrieve it as Piers looks anxious to leave.

The two made trudged their way to the concrete wall, leaving behind the lake and all its secrets. 

Once Piers helps Arthur not face plant over the wall, the two make their way into the heart of the town. Never once did they turn around otherwise they would have noticed the absence of Arthur's belongings.

**Author's Note:**

> Summer break started two days ago thus I've been binging Merlin with my sister. She requested an angsty "Fix-It" Fic which lead me to here. I hope you will stick around and see where my "Fix-It but not really" Fic goes.


End file.
